The 1975–76 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in intercollegiate

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

during the 1975–76 season. The team played its home games in the

Crisler Arena Crisler Center (formerly known as the University Events Building and Crisler Arena) is an indoor arena located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the home arena for the University of Michigan's men's and women's basketball teams as well as its women's ...

in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Under the direction of

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Johnny Orr, the team finished second in the Big Ten Conference. The team lost to all four ranked opponents it played during the regular season. However, the team earned the third of four consecutive NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament invitations, and it defeated the first three ranked opponents that it faced in the tournament.

Wayman Britt Wayman P. Britt (born August 31, 1954) is a retired American basketball player. Born in Wilson's Mills, North Carolina, he played collegiately for the University of Michigan, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in communication. The university' ...

served as team captain, and

Rickey Green Rickey Green (born August 18, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, a and point guard, led Chicago's Hirsch High School to the 1973 IHSA Class AA State ch ...

earned team

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. As a team, it led the conference in

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

offense with an 85.8 average in conference games as well as in

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the genera ...

with a 52.1%. The team began the season ranked sixteenth and peaked at ninth, where it finished the season in the Associated Press Top 20 Poll. It was ranked for a total of 16 out of 17 weeks during the season. The team also ended the season ranked ninth in the final UPI Coaches' Poll. That season, Hubbard set the current school record for single-season

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

by a freshman of 352. The team set a new school record by totaling 2753 points over the course of the season. The record would last for eleven seasons. The team set the school single-season total assist record of 600. On January 12, 1976, the team began a 22-game home

winning streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...

against that continued through a November 30, 1977, victory over . This surpassed the 17-game streak from December 1, 1964 – January 29, 1966, and stood as the longest home winning streak in school history until a 24-game streak that started on January 5, 1985. In the 32-team

1976 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1976 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1976, and ended with the championship ga ...

, Michigan reached the championship game by winning the Midwest region. In so doing they defeated the 74–73, the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

80–76 and the 95–88. Then in the final four, the team defeated the previously unbeaten

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

86–70 before losing in the championship game to the unbeaten

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

86–68.

Regular season

The team set the school record by totaling 2753 points during its 32-game season. The record lasted until 1987. The team also set the school record for

(.510, 1138-for-2231), which would last for five seasons.

Statistics

The team posted the following statistics:

Rankings

NCAA tournament

*Midwest **Michigan 74, Wichita State 73 **Michigan 80, Notre Dame 76 **Michigan 95, Missouri 88 *Final Four **Michigan 86, Rutgers 70 **Indiana 86, Michigan 68

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Seven players from this team were selected in the NBA Draft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1975-76 Michigan Wolverines Men's Basketball Team

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

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